Elastic-ei



Aug. Z5, 1925.

Inventor-z OscarJun b9 M o` JuNGGRr-:N

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE Filed July 27, 1923 Sgren:

Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNIT-EnA STATES PATENT 'OFFICE OSCAR JUNGGREN, 0F SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK,ASSIGNO'R'TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELASTIC-FLUID TUBBINE.

Application filed July 27, 1923. -SerialvNm 654,262. y

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Oscar` JUNGGREN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady, State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic-Fluid rI'urbines, of which the following is a specification. v i

The present inventionv relates to elastic fluid turbines in which theelastic fluid is withdrawn from ythe,` turbine at an intermediate stage,reheated, and returned again to the next lower stage of the turbine.This is ordinarilyV termed reheating between stages.

In turbines, of considerable output, the

volume of elastic fluid to bel withdrawn and returned againV to themachine is large, which means that conduits of considerable size arerequired to handle it, and kone object of my invention is. to provide animproved construction and arrangement 'whereby conduits for thewithdrawal of the elastic fluid from the turbine and itsfreturn to theturbine are provided without materially increasingthe length ofthemachine. I

Also, in s uch turbines, since the Yelastic fluid is withdrawn from onestage, reheated, and returned to the next lower stage, there is aconsiderable difference in temperature between these two stages whichmeans that' there rwill beconsiderabledilference in the amount ofexpansion, and a further object of my invention ispto provide animproved construction vand arrangement which will permit ofunequalexpansion of the parts without there being setup stresses of an undulylarge value. v. Y y n n v For; a consideration of what I believe lto benovel and my invention, attention is directed to the accompanyingdescription and the claims appended thereto. l

In the drawing, the figure is a side elevation, partly in section of aturbinestructure embodying my invention.,V 4 L y v f rReferring to thedrawing, 1V indicates the turbineocasingand 2the shaft 'upon rwhich aremountedthefturbine bucket wheels At 4 is indicated the 'admissionconduitthrough which elastic liuidis supplied to the turbiIlQl-i The. low:pressure endfof the turbine isnot illustrated in the drawing, vonly somuch. ,gli the machine' being shownr as is required afilliarate myieveatee The turbine casing is divided into stages by the nozzlediaphragms 5, there being a single wheel in each stage in the presentinstance. The elastic fluid is withdrawn from the stage indicated at 6,reheated, and then returned to the next lowerv stage indicated at 7.

ASurrounding the turbine casing adjacent to stage 6, are walls 8, 9 and10 which dene an `annular chamber 11 which kcommunicates with stage 6vthrough passages 12 and surrounding lthe turbine adjacent .to stage 7are walls 13- and 14; which define with'wall 10 an'annular chamber 15which communicates with stage 7 through passages 16. Walls 9 and 14 areintegral with-each other and with the turbine casing and form insubstance apart of the turbine casing.A

Chamber 11 is made of suflicient size to handle the volume of elasticfluid from stage and leading from it isa conduit or discharge passage 17through which the elastic fluid is conveyed to the reheater. Likewisechamber 15 is made of sufficient size to handle the reheated elasticfluid which is conveyed to it through Aconduit or inlet passage 18 whichvcommunicates therewith. VWall 8 is in the form of an .axially extendingring having an enlarged end 19 in which the passages 12 are formed, suchpassages being positionedv and curved so as to recelve the elastic fluiddischarged Vfrom the 'naL buckets ofthe bucket `wheel in stage Ganddirect it into chamber k11. The left hand end of wall 8 is seatedfin theturbine casing as indicated at 20 and carries the diaphragm which itsurrounds. It is fixed against axial movement by shoulders 21 andVisrlocked in place by a wedge shaped key 22. The right V hand end ofring 8 is locked to wall 10 and the diaphragm 23 between stages 6 and 7by tongue and groove connections 24 and 25.

- A suitable amount of clearance is pro vided between the adjacent,axially-extending surfaces ,of tongue land groove connec- Y tions 24and25 so as topermitfree relative radial expansion between the parts.

VValllOaisY joinedvto wall 13 bywebs or plates 2 6 which Vdefine withythe adjacent lsurfaces ofv walls 10 and 13, the passages 16 which areshaped to form nozzles for directing the elastic fluid from annularchamber l5 to the buckets on the bucket wheel in stage 7. Ory viewedfrom another aspect, 'willS 1Q and 13 may 'be onsderel as, e silk gleintegral structure in which are formed the nozzle passages 16. -`Wall 13is iixed to the turbine casing at the end toward the low pressure end ofthe machine by an annular tongue and groove connection as indicated at27, and carries the diaphragme which it surrounds. At 27L is a wedgeshaped locking key for fastening the tongue in the groove. rlhe outeredge of wall 10 fits in a groove 28 at the juncture of walls 9 and 14,there being a suitable amount of clearance in a radial direction asindicated at 29 to permit of relative expansion and contraction of theparts.

At 30 is an annular chamber which receives elastic fluid from theturbine stage in advance of stage 6 by way of passages B1 and 32 anddelivers it through a passage 33 to any desired point outside theturbine. The elastic fluid thus extracted from this stage may be usedfor herting the liquid used in the boilers which supply the elasticfluid to the turbine. Passage 31 may be in the form .of a number ofspaced holes in ring 8. Passage 32 may be formed by spacing the adjacentdiaphragm walls from ring 8. Such spacing may be effected by means ofsuitable pins With the foregoing arrangement it will beseen that boththe wall 8 and the wall structure comprising walls 10 and 13 are free toexpand and contract in a radial direction, thereby avoiding` danger ofbuckling of the parts or the setting up of stresses in the turbinecasing.

The wall 10 is a partition wall between chambers 11 and 15 and ispreferably ar ranged substantially in line with diaphragm 23 betweenstages 6 and 7. The elastic fluid is removed on the high pressure sideof wall 10 and returned on the low pressure side of it. The bucket wheelin stage 7 is made of greater diameter than the bucket wheel in stage 6.This brings nozzle passages 16 outside passages 12 and I then arrangepassages 16 and 12 so they are substantially concentric, bothsurrounding stages 6 and 7. By this means I am enabled to provide forthe removal of the elastic fluid from the one stage of the turbine andits return to the next lower stage without increasing to any greatextent the axial length of the machine.

Then the turbine is in operation, the elastic fiuid discharged from thebuckets of the bucket wheel in stage 6 is conveyed by the annular ringof passages 12 to' annular chamber 11 and from there by way-of conduit17 to the reheater (not shown). After being reheated the elastic fiuidis returned through conduit 18 to annular chamber from whence it flowsthrough the ring of nozzle passages 16 to' the Vbuckets on the bucketwheel in stage 7. The temperature' of the elastic iiuid in chamber 15 isthus very much higher' than that in chamba 11 which means that therespective portions of the turbine directly adjacent Vto chambers 11 and15 are subjected to greatly differentl temperatures. my invention theseadjacent portions are permitted to expand and contract radiallyindependently of each other. At the same time, however, they are firmlyheld against movement in an axial direction.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I havedescribed the principle of operation of my invention, together with theapparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,but I desire to have understood that the apparatus shown is onlyillustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

l/Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing comprising walls which defineadjacent annular chambers which surround the casing, certain of suchwalls extending in an axial direction and being fixed at one end andfree to expand radially at the other end, and means defining sets ofpassages in said axially-extending walls which connect the chambers tothe interior of the turbine casing.

2. In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing comprising walls which defineadjacent annular chambers which surround the casing, certain of suchwalls extending in an axial direction and being fixed at one end andfree to expand radially at the other end, diaphragms supported by suchaxially-ex-` tending walls, said diaphragms defining stages in theturbine, and means defining passages which connect adjacent stages tosaid annular chambers.

3. In an elastic fluid turbine, a rotor hav` ing rows of blades, acasing having at one point a part of a diameter greater than theadjacent parts whereby there is provided a surrounding enlarged portion,a wall dividing the lcasing into two sections and the enlarged portioninto adjacent -chambers, means defining passages for directing elasticfluid from a bucket row to one of said chainbers. and means definingpassages for' directing elastic fluid from the other chamber to anotherbucket row', whereby, through said chambers, elastic fluid may bewithdrawn from the turbine, reheated, and returned to the turbine.

4. In an elastic Huid turbine, a casing comprising walls which defineadjacent annular chambers which surround the casing, certain of suchwalls extending in an axial direction and being fixed at one end andfree to expand radially at the other end, diaphragms supported by' suchaxially-extending walls, said diaphradgms defining stages in theturbine, and means defining sets of passages which connect adjacentstages to saidannular chambers, said sets of passages being located oneradially out-V side the other. j

5; In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing having at one point a part of adiameter greater than the adjacent parts whereby there is provided an`enlarged surrounding portion, diaphragms dividing the casing intostages, walls which divide the casing into two sections and which formwith such enlarged portion two annular chambers, passages in said wallswhich connect one ofk the chambers with the last stage of the oneturbine section, and passages in said walls which connect the other orsaid chambers with the firststage of the other turbine section, thepassages for the respective stages being concentric with 'each other.

6. In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing having at one point, a part ofa diameter greater than the adjacent parts whereby there is provided asurrounding enlarged portion, diaphragms dividing the casing intostages, walls associated with said part of greater diameter which formtherewith two annular chambers, said walls forming supports for thediaphragms which they surround, and passages in said walls which connectthe chambers with. adjacent turbine stages, the adjacent ends of saidwalls being free to expand and contract radially,

7. In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing having at one point a part of adiameter greater than the adjacent parts whereby there is provided asurrounding enlarged diaphragms dividingV the casing into stages,axially-extending walls fixed to the casing adjacent the inner edges ofthe enlarged portion and projecting toward each other, said wallsforming supports for the diaphragms which they surround, aradially-extending wall associated with said axially-extending walls andserving to divide the enlarged casing portion intoy two chambers, andpassages in said walls which connect said chambers with adjacent turbinestages.

8. In an elastic fluid turbine, a casing having at one point va part ofa diameter greater than the adjacent parts whereby there is provided asurrounding enlarged portion, diaphragms dividing the casing intostages, axially-extending walls fixed to the casing adjacent the Vinneredges of the enlarged portion and projecting toward each other, vsaidwalls forming supports for the diaphragms which they surround, aradially-extending wall fixed to the free end of one of saidaxially-extending walls and having a tongue and groove connection withthe other axially-extending wall and with the wall of the `enlargedportion, radial clearance being provided to permit expansion andcontraction of the parts, and passages in said walls which connect thechambers with adjacent turbine stages.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of July,1923. f

OSCAR JUNGGREN.

portion,

